


I'll be back

by dargonpoops



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Mermaid and fisherman AU, idk what im even doing help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 17:10:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1990983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dargonpoops/pseuds/dargonpoops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Tsukishima likes to fish on summer holidays and Yamaguchi is a mermaid who only wanted a bit of bait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll be back

**Author's Note:**

> wowie my first fic on ao3 
> 
> Inspired by a three-sentence fic prompt sent by a friend a few days ago and the tsukiyamaweek prompt for day 4: summer holidays. Also I'm sorry it's dumb I just get bored of things sO EASILY adn i just. im sorry. its sort of rushed but eh oh well
> 
> ([Also on tumblr](http://dargonart.tumblr.com/post/92314879874/in-which-tsukishima-likes-to-fish-during-the))

Tsukishima liked fishing. He liked sitting at the edge of the dock with his legs dangling off the edge, swinging his feet in the cold water. He liked the way the breeze ruffled his hair and tickled his skin, how the sun reflected off the surface of the lake. 

Most of all, he liked the quiet. The dock was in a secluded area, and no one ever seemed to come near it. It was one of the few places he was able to completely relax and clear his mind.

Tsukishima pulled out a worm from the can next to him and hooked it before casting the line. For the next few minutes, he stared off into the distance, absentmindedly playing with a loose nail attached to the dock. 

He jerked to attention when he felt the familiar tugging. _That was fast_ , he thought. He began reeling it in, tugging the line a bit, but the hook didn't come any closer. Frowning, he pulled harder, and the line reeled in more easily. As his catch came closer, he realized he hadn't caught a fish, but… a hand? Connected to an arm, connected to a body okay what the _fuck_ \--

The face of a boy stared at him from beneath the water, his eyes wide in alarm as he clutched his hand, the one with a fucking hook through it and Tsukishima yelled in surprise and dropped his rod into the water--shit, that was his best one--and frantically backed away. He took a few shaky breaths and screwed his eyes shut, hoping this was a dream because _god he just caught a person with his fishing rod the hook is through his hand what is someone supposed to do in this kind of situation?_

He waited, listening for a splash of someone coming up for air, maybe followed by a scream or something, but nothing happened. Tsukishima's panic rose as he realized _that meant the boy was still underwater_ and his eyes flew open and he crawled back to the edge of the dock, peering into he murky water. 

No one was there. 

What the fuck. 

He leaned back and nervously chewed his thumbnail. This could mean one of two things, one that there was no boy to begin with and he had imagined the entire thing (god he hoped that was it), and the other possibility... he wasn't sure he wanted to think about that. 

A splash to his right made him jump so badly he nearly fell off the dock as he spun around, barely containing a scream. The boy's head bobbed just above the surface and he stared at Tsukishima, his expression a mixture of fear and uncertainty. Tsukishima coughed and he flinched, nearly ducking back underwater.

"Wh-who are you?" Tsukishima asked shakily. The other boy seemed to shrink as if he was trying to disappear. 

"My name is Yamaguchi," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "I… can you, um…"

The fact that the boy was talking to him, and more importantly, seemingly unharmed and _not drowning_ , gave Tsukishima enough courage to straighten up and extend his hand. Yamaguchi hesitated briefly before lifting his arm out of the water. From what Tsukishima could tell, the wound wasn't deep and removal would be easy. He took Yamaguchi's wet hand into his own and pulled a small loop of string out of his shirt pocket, putting it through the bend of the hook. He pushed down the eye of the hook and jerked the string back. 

Yamaguchi blinked at his now hook-free hand, watching the thin line of blood travel down his arm. Tsukishima placed the hook and string in a box by the bait can and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic, carefully pouring it over the wound. He hoped he was doing the procedure right. In all his years of fishing, he only ever got it stuck in himself once as a child, and his father had taken care of that. But Yamaguchi seemed satisfied, albeit mildly curious.

"What?" Tsukishima asked, putting the bottle back. 

Yamaguchi smiled cheerily, seemingly warmed up to him already. "Nothing," he said, dropping his hand underwater. "So what's your name?"

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. The guy seemed friendly enough. 

"Tsukishima Kei."

"Okay! Is it alright if I call you Tsukki then?"

He blinked. A nickname? He's never had a nickname before, despite how cool they had always seemed to him. 

He nodded and Yamaguchi's smile grew wider. 

"Sorry about that. The hook, I mean. I get a bit careless while swimming around sometimes and--ah." He dipped underwater. 

Panic rose once again. _What the hell was he doing now?_ The water was too dark to see through, but he could just barely make out Yamaguchi's brown hair a few feet under. 

A few seconds later, he resurfaced. 

"You dropped this, right?" He placed Tsukishima's rod--wet and slightly tangled, but still in good shape--next to him. 

Tsukishima mumbled a "thank you" as he pulled it behind him. 

"No problem, Tsukki."

Tsukishima's face heated up and he frowned. The way Yamaguchi said that just now, made something in his chest stir. Fuck he was gay tsukki yoURE SOSO FUCKING GAY. 

For a while the two made casual conversation as Tsukishima fixed his hook and went back to fishing. Yamaguchi was clueless about fishing and listened, amazed, as his newfound friend told him stories of his experiences with fishing. 

"Why are you still in the water?" Tsukishima asked, raising an eyebrow. "You can come up and sit here, you know."

Yamaguchi froze. "Oh, uh, that's alright, I sort of prefer being in wate--"

"Also, where did you come from?" Questions he had held back came tumbling out. "You just popped out of nowhere and I didn't even see you." He lowered his eyes, noticing a glint in the water beneath the other boy. He squinted his eyes and leaned closer. Was that a--

"I'm sorry, I have to go!" Yamaguchi practically squeaked, backing away. "I-I have a curfew and--"

"Wait!" Without thinking, Tsukishima reached out and lost his balance, toppling into the water with a yelp. For a few panicked moments he couldn't tell which way was up and he opened his eyes but couldn't see anything and he needed to breathe and oh god it was fucking freezing--

Strong arms pulled him above the surface and he gasped for breath, flailing around and blindly reaching for something to grab. A hand took his and he grabbed onto his savior's shoulder and opened his eyes, thankful his glasses were still perched on his nose. Yamaguchi held onto Tsukishima's waist, keeping him above the surface as the latter caught his breath and calmed down. 

Tsukishima's face burned with embarrassment and he could only manage a quiet mumble of thanks for the boy who saved him. How could he have let himself do that, how stupid was he? He never acted impulsively and always tried to think his actions through. And he would have died if Yamaguchi wasn't there, so why couldn't he say a proper thank you for him?

"Hey, it's okay," Yamaguchi consoled, as if reading his thoughts. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted like that. Here." He swam to the shore with Tsukki in tow, waiting until the boy had his balance before letting go. 

Tsukishima's eyes widened as he looked at Yamaguchi, finally seeing what he was trying to before. 

"You have a tail." His mind buzzed with disbelief as he stared at the lower half of Yamaguchi's body, now visible in the clearer shallow water. There was no way. He'd heard legends of mermaids living in these waters, making homes out of rocks and seaweed deep below the surface, where only the faintest rays of light shone through. He'd heard them, but never believed them--no one did, they were just stories, right?

Apparently not. 

Yamaguchi turned red and sputtered, eyes widening with fear. Obviously he hadn't meant to Tsukishima see, and he sank deeper into the water. 

"I'm really sorry, Tsukki," he said. "I didn't--I couldn't--it was too dangerous to tell you, so I--" 

Tsukishima smiled. A real, genuine smile, the first one he's had in ages. Yamaguchi seemed to perk up at that, and eyed him curiously. 

"No, actually, it's fine," said Tsukishima. "It's actually really cool. You're really cool."

He meant every word of it. 

After that, Yamaguchi was less cautious and actually swam up closer to shore, allowing Tsukki to see his tail in full view, every inch of its breathtaking copper, the wavy patterns on the fins. Tsukishima had always loved learning about fish since he was a kid, and was truly fascinated by his newfound friend's stories of life with other merpeople and absorbed every last bit--how no, they didn't have houses of seaweed or houses at all, but used the seaweed for bedding and sometimes clothes for those who wanted them, how while they mostly stayed away from people and most thought them dangerous, some were intrigued by these land-walking creatures that looked so much like them from the half-up. 

Sometimes, Yamaguchi would listen as Tsukishima told him about his lifestyle, fascinated about how planes and cars worked, how there's something called space high above the land and how humans have traveled all the way up there. He was especially interested in human sports, and Tsukishima would bring a volleyball and teach him how to play. Yamaguchi was surprisingly good at it and did as best as he could without feet, and when they weren't playing, he would float beside the dock and keep Tsukki company. 

A few months later, it was already getting cold. Tsukishima pulled his sweater tighter around his body, his breath forming little white puffs in front of him as he waited for his friend to appear. Early morning light cast a yellow glow on the dock as he sat criss-cross, idly trailing his fingers in the freezing water in front of him. 

Minutes passed. He checked his watch. He'd have to be on his way to school in ten, and Yamaguchi normally showed up before then. He sighed and pulled at the loose nail, wondering if the mermaid would even show up at all today. 

A small splash beside him interrupted his thoughts and he almost smiled with relief as he watched Yamaguchi shake water out of his hair. 

"It's about time you showed up," Tsukishima teased. "I was afraid you'd started hibernating or something."

Yamaguchi giggled and rested his arms on the dock, gazing up at the blonde. "No, not yet at least."

So they actually did hibernate in the winter. 

"I will soon though," he continued, tapping the wood with his fingers. "Some of the others have already started, and I'm starting to feel a bit sluggish." A pained look crossed his face. "They say the lake will start freezing over the next few days too."

Tsukishima frowned. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

Admittedly, he was afraid. He didn't want Yamaguchi to leave, he'd grown so used to his company he wasn't sure how he would deal with the next few months. 

Yamaguchi shook his head and whispered, "Sorry, Tsukki."

His stomach twisted. 

"But I'll be back, I promise!"

Tsukishima tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. 

"I promise too."

Yamaguchi puffed up with happiness and pulled himself up until he was at eye level. He was really close, so close Tsukishima could easily see the freckles dotting his face and his arms and his chest, the gills on his neck he never quite noticed before, the flecks of green and gold in his soft brown eyes. 

He didn't process the kiss until after it happened, the wetness from Yamaguchi's lips lingering on his cheek. His face heated up and he stuttered, unable to find words. 

"Goodbye, Tsukki." Yamaguchi smiled one last time before pushing himself off the dock, disappearing into the water in a flash of copper.

"Goodbye, Yamaguchi."


End file.
